A case report of ileocecal mucinous adenocarcinoma with abscesses in the low-right abdomen and formation of sinus tract in the abdominal wall

The clinical manifestations of ileocecal tumor are complicated and diverse, targeted therapy cannot be carried out without timely and definitive diagnosis, and the best operation time may be missed. Here, we report a 64-year old female patient who was admitted due to “an abscess in the low-right abdomen and formation of a sinus tract in the abdominal wall for 5 months”. She was repeatedly transferred to several hospitals due to “chronic infection of abdominal abscess”. Although she received anti-infection, debridement and suturing treatments, the prolonged healing of the incision led to the formation of a sinus tract in the abdominal wall. At last, she underwent debridement of the abdominal wall. The pathological biopsy and immunohistochemistry was done for definitive diagnosis, and the result indicated a mucinous adenocarcinoma in the ileocecal region. Hence, palliative right hemicolectomy and ileocolic anastomosis were performed, and the patient recovered well after the operation. Ileocecal malignant tumor presenting an abscess in the low-right abdomen and formation of sinus tract in the abdominal wall has not been reported in the literature. Our case report provides some suggestions in the diagnosis of ileocecal tumor in order to minimize misdiagnosis of the disease: in cases of persistent abscesses in the lower abdomen and iliac fossa after repeated treatment, where periappendiceal abscess, Crohn’s disease and enterophthisis are excluded, the appearance of long-term mild infectious symptoms, intermittent fever and sinus tract formation should alert the physicians of the possibility of an intestinal tumor, especially an ileocecal tumor.